Return to Furya
by Raha
Summary: Riddick's been searching for Furya, and Aereon holds all the answers. But she's not telling until he does something for her first-destroy the Necromonger horde, once and for all. Not a problem. They did try to kill him. Now it's time for some payback. Set after the events of Riddick 2013.
1. Chapter 1

**LOADING...CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK**

**DATA ENTRY: THE ORACLE OF FURYA  
><strong>

**LOG 001-11/04/2514  
><strong>

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><p>"Fuck."<p>

The curse was soft, but even clear across the room Riddick would swear she'd heard it. Her storm-cloud eyes came up and locked onto his, a smile dancing in the frown lines around her mouth. She'd disappeared shortly after he'd taken the Necromonger throne, nearly seven years ago now, but she was still the same wrinkled old lady he remembered.

"Hello, Richard," Aereon greeted softly, having the good sense not to use his last name, and slid into the seat next to him. She nodded politely at the bartender, who was eyeing her with a good amount of suspicion and disbelief. His establishment was one of the seediest in the entire start system. Old ladies were definitely _not_ his regular customers. "I'll have what he's having."

"You sure, grandma?" the bartender asked, raising a brow. "It ain't yer regular ol' rot-gut. Kicks like a mule, it does."

"I'm sure," Aereon smiled.

"Your stomach lining, lady," the bartender muttered, cleaning out a dirty mug and slopping a good amount of smoky brown liquid all over the counter—though some of it actually managed to make it into the glass. Aereon nodded her thanks, glanced mischievously at Riddick for a moment, and slammed the entire thing. Riddick let out a soft whistle as she put the glass down and daintily dabbed at her mouth.

"That is truly the worst thing I've ever tasted," Aereon informed him.

"Hey, at least he cleaned the glass out first," Riddick snorted. "He ain't usually that considerate."

"It's because I look like his mother," Aereon replied tartly. "Thank you, that was lovely," she added to the bartender, who snorted so hard he nearly choked on his own spit. Riddick silently regarded the woman for a moment, his expression impassive. She had shed her white robes for a black shirt and dark cargo pants, tucked into dirty combat boots. Her snowy hair was woven into two braids, and her face was shadowed by a long, hooded cloak. She was even carrying a gun.

"What the hell are you doin' out here?" Riddick asked, tapping the table for another shot.

"I was looking for you," Aereon replied.

"Yeah, I figured," Riddick grunted. He didn't bother asking how she'd managed to find him, out here in the middle of nowhere on this shithole of an asteroid. She was a Seer, after all. "At least you actually came looking for me and didn't just put a bounty out for my head this time," he drawled. "So what do you want now?"

"You know perfectly well that I was a prisoner of the Necromongers at the time," Aereon retorted crisply. "Otherwise, I'd have tracked you down myself. But circumstances have changed, and I've got a bit more freedom."

"Thanks to me," Riddick reminded her.

"Yes, and that's partially why I'm here," Aereon said. "To repay that debt. You've been searching for Furya, yes?"

It took every scrap of willpower Riddick possessed to remain calm and relaxed. Aereon was a wily, calculating creature—she wouldn't just give him this for nothing, despite what she claimed. He'd wait for the other shoe to drop.

"What of it?" he asked, feigning disinterest.

"Have you found it yet?" Aereon asked, a sly edge to her voice. "You've been looking for, what? Two years now?"

Riddick gave her a shrewd, side-long look, though she couldn't see it behind the goggles.

"I take it _you've_ found it," he said evenly. "Question is, what do you want for the information?"

"Well, the problem isn't finding it," Aereon explained, downing another glass of rotgut and shaking her head. "I can tell you where it is right now. When the Necromongers attacked, the entire planet was nearly blown out of orbit. It's a dead world now. But it can be restored. That's going to be the tricky bit."

Riddick's hands closed around his mug and gripped hard. He was thrumming with energy, though he remained perfectly still.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Aereon replied. "Because seeing as it was the Necromongers who destroyed your world, they also know of its location. And they will do everything they can to stop you reclaiming it."

"That ain't a problem," Riddick intoned, a dangerous smirk lighting his eyes. "I'm guessin' old Zhylaw hid the records of it while he was Lord Marshall? 'Cause I never found a damn thing."

"You wouldn't have," Aereon replied. "He had them sealed shortly after decimating the planet, yes. For the record, you would never have been made privy to that information, even if you'd Converted. Being a Furyan, you couldn't be trusted not to turn on them."

"So, that's your price, huh?" Riddick asked. "Take out the Necromongers, and you'll take me to Furya?"

"That's what you wanted anyway, isn't it?" Aereon said. "Considering how Commander Vaako betrayed and abandoned you on…what did you call it? Not-Furya. Well, now I'd like to give you the opportunity to pay him back. What do you say?"

Riddick chuckled. "You're so sure I'm gonna bite, aren't you?"

"Aren't _you_?" Aereon smiled. "Come now. I know you haven't had any luck finding home on your own, and you won't without my help."

"That why you waited until now to tell me all this?" Riddick asked, a hard edge cutting into his tone. "Wanted to make sure I was nice and desperate first?"

"We both know you wouldn't have taken my offer before," Aereon replied breezily. "You were too busy sleeping your way through every Necro-girl you could find, weren't you? No need to rock the boat trying to get back to some empty, forgotten rock."

Riddick clenched his teeth, and a tight metal band of fury squeezed at his chest, but he was grudgingly impressed, despite himself. Not many people had the balls to smart-off like that. Not to him. Not when it hit so close to home.

"Really?" he asked in a low voice. "Well, way I see it, the only reason it got that way was 'cause of _you_."

"Oh?"

"Way I see it, you owe me twice," Riddick drawled, deliberately leaning into her space. "Once, for that prophecy you told Zhylaw. And again, when I let you go instead of gutting you like I should have done ages ago."

"First of all, that prophecy was told under duress," Aereon informed him crisply, not in the least bit intimidated. "When someone is tearing your soul in half, you'd say anything they wanted, believe me. And secondly, that prophecy saved your life."

"Yeah? And how do you figure that?"

"You didn't really think the Necromongers would have left your planet alone, did you?" she asked, looking at him like he'd just dribbled on his shirt. "They had plans for your people, believe me. The diplomatic discussions were already underway. The conquering of your kind would have been more peaceful, yes, but no less tragic than what happened. The Furyans they Converted would have ravaged the Universe. Mostly likely, you, yourself, would now be a Necromonger, if things had gone as they should have."

"…Should have?" Riddick echoed, his voice strained. "Wait. You mean…"

"Yes," Aereon said, looking him right in the eye. "The prophecy I gave Zhylaw was false. If I had kept my silence, of course he never would have openly attacked your world. Your people were too dangerous for that, and Zhylaw did not wish to suffer losses when there were easier ways of dealing with the situation. Only the consequences of their Conversion were too great for the rest of us."

"So you threw Furya under the bus."

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I knew what Zhylaw's actions would be. I knew he would make my false prophecy true," Aereon said. "And for what it's worth…I'm sorry."

Riddick was quiet. He didn't wonder what his life would have been; he was a creature of the here and now. Worrying about an existence that had never happened was pointless. But his life had begun with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Zhylaw might have ordered it, but Aereon had set him on that path. _She_ had pulled the trigger.

The animal inside him was snarling. It wanted him to take her by her bony little shoulders and shake her until her brains came out her shriveled ears.

He took a breath and held it. That probably wouldn't do any good, anyway. She'd just ghost right out of his hands. Fucking Elementals.

"Sorry ain't worth shit," Riddick grunted, and pushed away from the bar. "Keep your information. I'll find Furya on my own."

Aereon sighed, but she didn't follow.

.oOo.

Riddick stalked away from her, away from her fucking prophecies and the sorrow in her eyes and the infuriating way she looked at him—like she understood exactly what he felt. His heart was thumping hard against his ribcage, and his fists were clenched tightly at his sides.

He was so angry he almost didn't notice the Mercs sneaking up from behind.

Almost.

He twisted to the side as one tried to shiv him in the back. His fist came around and drove straight into the man's throat. The Merc made a strangled, wheezing sound and dropped like a stone. Two blades appeared in Riddick's hands, and he went to work on the other three. They were down in seconds, dead or soon to be. He wiped the blood off on his pants, and continued on his way like nothing had happened.

"Riddick!"

The cry was sharp, a warning. Riddick turned, and saw Aereon dashing up to him from behind. Her form was slightly translucent, which explained why he hadn't heard her approach. But then she became very solid a second later when she crashed into his chest and shoved him hard. He staggered back—just as a figure in black dropped soundlessly from the roof and drove a sword into Aereon's chest. She bit off an agonized cry, and collapsed to the ground.

Riddick saw red.

Despite everything she'd done, despite how furious he was with her, she was one of the last remaining friends he actually had, and one of the only people he (grudgingly) respected.

He killed the assassin before he even knew what was happening. A moment he'd been standing in a dirty alleyway, staring down at the woman bleeding out on the pavement, and the next—both knives were buried in her killer's eyes. The man let out a short, horrified scream, and cut off sharply when Riddick twisted his wrist and dropped him. He was dead before he hit the ground. Riddick panted for a moment, getting himself under control, before he turned to Aereon.

She looked up at him, and reached out a hand. Slowly, he bent and took it.

"You saw this coming, didn't you?" he asked quietly.

"It's…how I found you…"Aereon gasped. "I followed…the Mercs…"

"You couldn't have said something?" he snorted.

"No…This was…the best outcome…"

"What? You dying in an alley?" Riddick snapped. "That was the best fucking outcome you could come up with? Why didn't you phase out?"

"Wasn't time," Aereon smiled. "Had to…push you out of…the way."

"Goddammit, Aereon!" Riddick snarled. "Will you—will you people stop throwing yourselves into danger for me? I'm not—_I'm not_—"

"Worth it…?" Aereon asked, gasping through every word. "Of course…you are. You're the man…who fights monsters. We need…more people…like you."

"Didn't you say you were gonna help me find Furya?" Riddick retorted. "Can't exactly be much of a help when you're dead."

"Don't worry…I'm not…dying."

"Sorry, old lady, but I think the sword in your chest begs to differ."

"Must you be so…pessimistic?" Aereon chuckled, a line of blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. She was panting raggedly now, her eyes dark with pain.

"Comes with the life of a convicted murderer."

"Well, lighten up, son," Aereon breathed. "And step back…"

Riddick blinked, confusion marring his brow, before he noticed the light shimmering beneath Aereon's skin. Slowly he drew away, and as Aereon's hand fell away from his, she let out a heavy sigh and went still. Her eyes turned blank and filmy, and he'd seen death a hundred times, but seeing it in a friend sat in his heart like it never did with anyone else. And it seemed to be happening more and more lately. Caroline, Imam, Kyra…

But the light was growing in Aereon. It grew and grew, brighter and brighter, until the entire alley was lit up like it was high noon. Golden, glittering tendrils of light snaked across the ground, trailing around his ankles and twining lazily up his arms. It was warm, and it made his heart pound. Suddenly, he felt like he could run a marathon.

The sword clattered against the pavement as the golden ball of energy rose up off the ground, spinning and whirling and shining up and up and up until he had to close his eyes it was so blinding—then there was a short, punchy pop like a hundred light bulbs all exploding at once—and then silence.

The alley was plunged into darkness again, and Riddick slowly lifted his goggles, blinking against the spots dancing across his vision. It took him a moment to spot Aereon standing a foot in front of him, though it was hard to make out her features.

"Ohhh, that's much better," Aereon said, looking like she was shaking out her entire body…and sounding entirely different. "My, I haven't felt this good in years. I should have regenerated _years_ ago. Honestly, this is marvelous."

"The hell are you talking about?" Riddick grunted, still blinking a bit owlishly at her. Something was off about her face, but he couldn't quite place what it was.

"Later, sweetie, we need to get out of here," Aereon said airily, taking him by the arm and gently leading him away from the alley. _Sweetie?_

"What just happened?" he asked.

"Change, my dear," Aereon smiled. "And not a moment too soon."

She pulled him out into the street, and Riddick was finally able to clear the spots from his eyes as the light of the moon washed over them. He looked down. The hand on his arm was no longer wrinkled, but smooth and soft. Aereon's hair was still the color of fresh snow, but it seemed to glow in the silver light, full and healthy instead of brittle with age. Where before Aereon's clothes had hung limply off her thin frame, now they hugged every delicious curve and plane of her body. Then she turned towards him, and he forgot to breathe.

She was gorgeous.

Gone were the aged lines around her mouth and eyes. Instead, her face was full of color and vitality, her rosy skin clear as glass. Only her eyes remained the same, old and wise, but brighter than he'd ever seen them. She gave him a knowing smirk, and _winked_.

"How do you like me now, Riddick?" she asked.

"I think…I could get used to this," Riddick replied, with a slow and wolfish grin.

**To be continued...**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I own nothing.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**LOADING...CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK**

**DATA ENTRY: THE ORACLE OF FURYA  
><strong>

**LOG 002-11/04/2514**

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><p>"It's called regeneration," Aereon explained, as Riddick hot-wired the space-cruiser she'd pointed out and pulled away from the dock. He casually rammed into another ship on the way out, breaking its moorings and sending it spinning out into space. Aereon shot him a sideways glance, as if to ask if that was really necessary. He smirked at her, and kicked the cruiser into high-gear.<p>

"It's a trick the Elementals borrowed, a long time ago, from a race that's been dead for millennia now," Aereon continued. "This was back when we were known as the Sisterhood of Karn. Before the Great Time War destroyed our home planet."

"_Time_ War?"

"There were these people, called Time Lords," Aereon replied. "They watched over the web of time, and made sure nothing could change its continuity. But they created many enemies, and their ways were what eventually pushed my ancestors to leave their home planet, Gallifrey, and settle on Karn. But that was a very long time ago. Even the last survivor of the Time Lords is dead."

"Couldn't he…regenerate?"

"Used up all his lives, I'm afraid," Aereon shrugged. "Nothing lasts forever. But he had thirteen. I only have nine."

"Like a cat," Riddick snorted. Aereon chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose that would be an appropriate comparison," she agreed. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Hmm, don't know," Riddick drawled, rubbing his chin. "I'm thinkin' I can come up with a much better way for you to pay me back."

He cocked his head to the side, and his mouth quirked, his eyes slowly traveling over Aereon's body with clear intent. She huffed and crossed her arms, rolling her own.

"You _would_ think that," she sniffed. "You men are all alike, really. Pigs, every single one of you. Tell me, did I or did I not just save your life?"

"You just kept me from gettin' stuck," Riddick snorted. "I've survived much worse than some wannabe assassin out for my head."

"So the life I gave up for you means nothing, does it?" Aereon asked him pointedly.

"I didn't ask you to do it," Riddick growled.

"Regardless, I think you still owe me a debt, don't you?"

"Is _that_ what you meant by the best outcome?" Riddick asked. "Thought you could guilt me into doing what you want? 'Cause the way I see it, you were hobblin' along on your last leg, anyway, grandma. You just did yourself a favor."

"Well, how else was I supposed to convince you?" Aereon smirked. "It's not like I could appeal to the goodness of your heart."

At that, Riddick threw back his head and laughed. He didn't think he'd ever met a girl with such audacity in his life. As infuriating as she could be, it was actually somewhat refreshing.

"Ain't got one, sweetheart."

"Oh, sweetheart now, am I?" Aereon said tartly. "It's amazing what a few wrinkles can do. I am still much too old for you, Richard B. Riddick, and don't you forget it, young man."

In a flash, Riddick reached over and snagged Aereon around the middle, pulling her right into his lap. She gasped in surprise, her legs straddling him, and he gripped her hips, pulling her firmly down onto the erection straining at his pants.

"Didn't see that coming, did you, Seer?" he growled low, leaning forward to run his nose along the length of her throat. "Tell me, old lady…When was the last time someone fucked you?"

He saw Aereon's cheeks blush red, heard a sharp intake of breath—and then she reached up and twisted his ear as hard as she could. He yelped, but before he could do anything else she was gone, ghosting right out of his arms and clear across to the other side of the cockpit.

"Riddick, I am not one of your little whores, and if you touch me like that again I'll ghost your heart right out of your chest," she hissed, and for a moment her pupils expanded and her eyes turned completely black. A shadow crossed her face, and instead of a young, snow-haired girl a demon stood in the doorway. Then she whirled on her heel, her cloak swirling behind her, and stalked out of the cockpit.

Riddick laughed himself hoarse.

.oOo.

He found Aereon in the galley, scribbling calculations into a black diary and muttering to herself under her breath. He looked over her shoulder, but whatever she was doing went way over his head. There were equations written in ancient symbols a paragraph long, line graphs, coordinates, names of people he'd never heard of, and dates that hadn't happened yet.

He paused for a moment, considering the half-moon spectacles she wore. Who the fuck wore spectacles anymore, these days? Hadn't she ever heard of Lasiks? Yet somehow, they made her all the more enticing. Her white hair fell softly across her brow, bangs framing her heart-shaped face, softening the edges. Her hands were held out loosely in front of her, fingers deftly manipulating tendrils of white smoke into numbers, graphs, lines, and pictures—flashing by almost too fast to see. She was small in stature, her head barely reaching his chin, but for this moment she seemed so much bigger than she was—otherworldly and ancient and wise.

Riddick wondered what she would be like, pressed against him, all soft curves and smooth skin—

He shook his head. Not an hour ago she'd been a withered old woman.

But that was an hour ago, a wicked voice whispered. He was a creature of the here and now.

"You haven't yet agreed to my offer," she said lowly, her gaze flicking back and forth, absorbed in her work. "Are you going to help me defeat the Necromongers, or not?"

"You didn't exactly give me much of a choice, did you?" Riddick snorted, dropping into the chair opposite her.

"Actually, the Necromongers won't give you a choice," Aereon corrected. "They will prevent you from retaking the planet. That is why we need to take care of them first, now, before they regain any more power. Many went to seed under your rule as Grand Marshall. They are still weak, and crippled."

"Right," Riddick said. "And how do you suggest we take them out, with just the two of us, huh? 'Cause I'm good, but I ain't _that_ good."

"We won't be doing it alone," Aereon replied. "There are people all over the galaxies, just waiting for the chance to strike a blow against the Necromongers."

"You wanna raise an army?" Riddick asked, arching a brow.

"Exactly," Aereon said. "Our next stop is Coromander Five. That's where we'll find most of our recruits, starting with a man by the name of Dwayne Johnson."

Riddick brows shot up, and he stared at her for nearly a solid minute, as if waiting to see if she would suddenly smile at him and shout, "Fooled you!" Aereon, of course, did no such thing.

"…You mean the Rock," he said finally.

"So, you've heard of him."

"Kind of hard not to, seein' as he's one of the most skilled bounty hunters in the entire system," Riddick replied. "Even threw _me_ in the slammer…_several_ times."

"Yes, I'm aware," Aereon said casually.

"He's a Merc," Riddick said, slowly, as if Aereon were deaf. Maybe she was. She was certainly insane. "I'm the most wanted man in the galaxy."

"Yes," Aereon agreed, and looked at him over the rims of her specs, her eyes dancing. "Your point?"

Riddick was not amused. He tilted his head, and gave Aeeon the hardest glare he was capable of—for all the good that did. She merely put her chin in her hand and smiled.

"It won't work."

"We'll see," Aereon said, and he hated that knowing, purposefully enigmatic glint in her eye. He got the sinking feeling that, despite the bat-shit craziness of her choice in comrades, things were going to turn out exactly as she wanted them.

A Seer that could calculate the future was one thing.

A Seer that could _manipulate_ the future was an entirely different ballpark.

As if she'd read his mind, Aereon's mouth pulled into a slow, sharp-edged grin, and a chill crawled across Riddick's skin. He'd sensed she was dangerous from the first moment he'd met her. But until now, he hadn't realized just how much. She'd been puppet-mastering his life from the beginning, he knew. She was still yanking his strings, and if he let her pull him along, she would drag him right to the edge of the Universe. Only question was: would she push him off? Or would he jump?

Typically, he'd have killed what was so very clearly a threat.

But then the image of that assassin's sword buried in her chest flashed across his mind's eye, and he clenched his teeth. The thought of doing the same to her (over and over and over until all her lives ran out) twisted hard in his gut, and he _knew_ she'd known it would. She'd probably _planned_ it that way, and no matter how much he wanted to throttle her for it, he found he couldn't.

He'd killed a woman only once before, and that was because she'd literally stabbed him in the back. Even then, he could almost convince himself it didn't count. She'd been a Necromonger…she might as well have been dead already. But her soft, agonized gasp would still haunt him for the rest of his life.

Aereon had done a lot more than just stick a knife in him—and yet, he didn't get the feeling she'd ever meant him harm. Despite everything, somehow it felt as if she was on his side. He could count on one hand the number of people crazy (or stupid) enough to do that.

All of them had ended up dead.

He got the feeling, that if he stuck around long enough, he'd be the one who died...and the only thing that knowledge did was make him want her even more.

He was insane.

"Coromander's three weeks away," Riddick grunted. "And this ship wasn't outfitted with cryo-chambers. You said we wouldn't need them."

"We won't," Aereon replied. "Too many things can go wrong in cryo-sleep—or didn't you learn that on the Hunter-Gratzner?"

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Riddick asked, leaning forward and giving Aereon his most charming smile. Aereon glanced up, her calculations dissipating into the air, and smiled sweetly back at him.

"I suggest you find a good book to read," she told him, rising from her seat and gliding out of the room.

"You're serious?" Riddick asked, disbelief coloring his tone.

"As the plague," Aereon shot back over her shoulder. Riddick watched her go, hips swaying temptingly, and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

It was going to be a very long trip.

.oOo.

Aereon let out a deep, steadying breath, leaning up against her door and trying to calm her nerves. Damn hormones. She hadn't had to deal with them since she'd hit menopause. But apparently they were back with a vengeance in this new, younger body. And Riddick stirred them up into a frenzy like no one else could, damn him.

She pulled her braids out and ran a hand through her hair, shaking out the curls, before dropping onto her bed. There were only two rooms on this ship—hers, and Riddick's. His was right across the hall. And her door didn't have a lock. That was worrisome, but she knew Riddick wasn't the type to force anything, no matter how frustrated he got. He _would_, however, do his level best to make her go to him, and she absolutely refused to sink to that level. A whole world of trouble was waiting for her, the second she started down that road, and she was determined to avoid it at all cost.

It was going to be a very long trip.

Aereon sighed, and pushed herself up. There was a full-length mirror standing in the corner, and she padded towards it, curious to see the changes her regeneration had wrought. The face staring back at her was her own—just a version of it that she hadn't seen for a long time. The Time Lords changed their entire bodies, their entire _personalities_ sometimes, and she was glad everything had remained constant and familiar.

She returned to the bed, and remembered belatedly she had left her Arithmancy book back in the galley. At least, that's what she called it in her head. Calculating the future in graphs and charts and numbers wasn't a new idea, by any means. People had been doing it for centuries, or at least had understood the concept. But she'd found the closest approximation of it in a children's book, of all places, written hundreds of years ago when the human race still lived on Earth. Some woman by the name of Rowling…

Aereon muttered to herself irritably. She glanced at the book shelf next to her bed in disinterest, but the sparse collection of maps and dirty magazines haphazardly piled on the shelves did not appeal. She'd come in here to get away from Riddick and his infuriating barbs and the infuriating way he'd looked at her and the infuriating way her body kept reacting to him. She hadn't dealt with this particular kind of attention in _years_, not since…

She shook her head. Some things were better left alone—and Riddick was definitely one of them.

She blew out a frustrated breath and buried her face in her pillow. If there was anything worse than the dangerously unwanted attentions of a man that looked like Trouble Incarnate, it was boredom.

And right on time, as if he'd somehow planned it, there was a knock at the door.

Aereon suppressed a groan, then snatched a book off her shelf and threw herself down on the bed.

"It's open," she said. Riddick pushed open the door, and stood there leaning against the frame for a moment.

Then he tilted his head, pure amusement in his voice as he said, "You know your book is upside down."

"Yes, I was aware, thank you," Aereon replied coolly, without missing a beat. She hadn't, of course, but she wasn't about to admit that to _him_. "I'm practicing. Reading upside down is actually a very handy skill to have."

"That's a book on star charts. Didn't know it was possible to read a star chart upside do—"

"Did you want something, Riddick?" Aereon asked airily, turning a page.

"Made omelets," Riddick grinned. "Came to see if you wanted one."

"_You_ made omelets?" Aereon asked, looking up in surprise. "You did not make omelets."

"What? Didn't know I could cook?" Riddick asked, crossing his arms and canting a hip. "And here I thought you knew everything."

"Just everything important," Aereon replied impishly.

"Are you hungry or not?"

Aereon considered the man for a moment, weighing her options. She could either continue to sit in her room and be bored, or she could continue to exchange snarky comebacks with a man who frequently swung back at forth from wanting to strangle her, to wanting to eat her with chocolate syrup.

"You can't keep avoiding me forever, you know," Riddick pointed out, as if he'd been reading her thoughts, still smirking down at her like a lion watching a gazelle. "You're gonna have to come out of here sometime. Or maybe you want me to join _you_, instead…"

Aereon hopped up as if her bed had suddenly turned into a pit of lava. "After you," she said cheerfully.

Riddick's grin widened, but he didn't move from the doorway. Apparently he was going to try and force her to squeeze by him. Aereon gave him a condescending, supremely unimpressed look, before disappearing one moment and reappearing out in the hallway the next. He chuckled, voice low and graveled, and followed at her heels.

"I know what you're doing, by the way," Aereon said as she made her way back to the galley.

"Yeah? What's that?" Riddick asked.

"You're trying to butter me up so you can…what's the phrase? Get in my pants."

"Is that what I'm doing?" Riddick said. "And here I thought I was just bein' friendly."

"Which you only seemed to have started after I regenerated," Aereon observed dryly, seating herself at the galley table. "After you got over the shock, of course. Funny how that worked out. And now that you want me, you're all smiles and omelets. I've got your number."

Instead of trying to pass it off, Riddick instead shot her a shit-eating grin and plunked a steaming plate in front of her.

"_You_ came to _me_, remember?" he asked, retrieving his own plate and sitting across from her.

"To offer my services as a Seer, only," Aereon retorted sharply. "Anything else was clearly off the table."

"That was before you turned into a fine piece of ass."

"You're just full of charm today, aren't you?" Aereon replied dryly, slowly lifted up one edge of the pseudo-egg to examine what was inside.

"Will you just eat it?" Riddick snorted after she'd thoroughly dissected his peace offering. "That's rude, you know."

"Oh, that's rich," Aereon laughed, though good-naturedly. "Richard B. Riddick, hardened criminal and wanted felon, lecturing me at the dinner table."

"Just 'cause I'm a criminal, doesn't mean I can't have manners," Riddick retorted, enjoying the banter despite himself. He couldn't remember a time when someone had actually just sat around and talked to him like this—like he was a normal fucking person.

Meanwhile, Aereon was cautiously taking a bite, as if she half-expected her breakfast to explode.

"Well. I'm duly impressed," she admitted. "This is…actually rather good. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Would you believe Tangiers Penal Colony?"

"No way."

"They don't feed their prisoners. You're expected to find and cook your own food," Riddick explained, digging into his own meal, though he continued to watch her. Where he was wolfing his down, she took dainty bites like a proper little lady. He was almost tempted to chew with his mouth open, just to see her reaction. She looked mildly disapproving of his eating habits already, and carefully avoided watching him after the first couple of bites.

"So what's it gonna take to get you in bed with me?" he asked once he'd cleaned his plate. Aereon _almost_ choked on her food, and just managed to swallow it down before shooting a truly withering glare.

"Riddick, let me make this perfectly clear to you," she said, folding her hands on the table. "I am _never_ going to sleep with you. Period."

"Don't fuck guys, huh?" Riddick asked, folding his arms behind his head. "Met a girl who said the same thing once. Asked me, real sweet-like, to go balls deep in her the same day. Still keeps a room open for me."

"Then go hop in bed with Dahl, and when you're ready to talk business, come see me," Aereon replied.

Riddick blinked, though he wasn't surprised.

"You know about all that, huh?"

"I've been keeping an eye on you for a very long time now," Aereon told him. "Ever since I found you in a trash can, actually."

Riddick felt his stomach clench, and he went very still.

"…_You_ found me?"

"Who else did you think it was?" Aereon asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "After the Necromongers were finished, I slipped my chains and went to find you. You'd have died if I hadn't."

Riddick shifted, his skin feeling hot and heavy.

"So what, you want a thank you?" he asked roughly. "Right after that, you dumped me in one of the worst orphanages in the system. Practically grew up in the penal system. Takes a pretty cold bitch to do that. And people call _me_ a monster."

"You needed the education," Aereon replied, her expression unreadable.

"I grew up thinking my own mother strangled me at birth," Riddick snapped. "The least you could have done was explain. Write a fucking letter."

"Riddick I _couldn't_," Aereon told him patiently. "The Necromongers were scouring the Universe for any survivors. If they'd gotten wind of you, if they'd known at all that you were alive, they'd have killed you before you were capable of fighting back. No one could know who you really were. Not even you."

It made perfect sense, and he knew it…but that didn't make it easier. Not when all he could remember were lonely nights, an empty belly, and the constant ache for someone to look at him without fear or hatred or indifference.

"Forgotten all about bedding me, then, have you?" Aereon asked curtly, and Riddick shot her a sharp look of complete disbelief. "Oh, the fickleness of men."

_Oh, that manipulative little…_

"I haven't forgotten _anything_."

"Oh, I think you did for a second there," Aereon replied sharply. "Don't let the pretty face fool you. I am still the woman that sacrificed you and your people, and I won't hesitate to do it again."

"Never doubted that for a second," Riddick retorted.

"Good," Aereon said firmly. "So can we just focus on taking out the Necromongers now, and forget about everything else?"

"Hell no."

"Oh, for _pity's sake_, for the last time I do _not_ want—"

"Two reasons," Riddick growled, cutting her off. "First, you _do_ want me. I can smell the pheromones from here."

"My _body_ wants you, there is a difference," Aereon snapped, her cheeks flushing prettily. "I've just regenerated, and I haven't had to deal with all these damned hormones in years. It'll settle down in a few days. Believe me, I do _not_ want you. I've seen firsthand what you do with women, and I am _not_ a 'hit it and quit it' kind of girl. So _back off_."

"Secondly, you need it," Riddick continued, his mouth quirking into a smirk.

"Here we go," Aereon cried, throwing her hands in the air. "You men are all alike! You think a woman simply _can't_ exist without you!"

"Lady, you're wound tighter than anyone I've ever seen," Riddick snorted. "When was the last time you had a good, long—"

"Do not even think about finishing that sentence," Aereon warned. "You do realize I am thirty-six years older than you?"

"On this side of the galaxy, Furya was destroyed nearly two hundred years ago," Riddick replied dismissively. "I've been on planets where one year equals a decade. And I've been in Cryo for at least twice that long. Time is relative."

"I will never have sex with you, Riddick," Aereon said, clearly and slowly, as if she were talking to someone mentally challenged. "So stop asking me."

"Not a chance."

"Look, if you just want sex, there are plenty of brothels we can stop at," Aereon pointed out irritably. "Sleep with as many hookers as your heart desires, and come back when you've got whatever this is out of your system."

"I don't want _sex_," Riddick replied evenly. "I want _you_."

Aereon blinked, staring at him for a moment in open-mouthed disbelief.

"And I usually get what I want," he finished. Aereon shut her jaw with a snap.

"I'm afraid you'll be sadly disappointed then," she said crisply, and was gone.

**To be continued...**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch BlackRiddick or Doctor Who. All characters and ideas belong to their respective owners. I'm just borrowing them.**


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